Isolation and characterization of Agouti: a diabetes/obesity related gene

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to the cloning and expression of the Agouti gene and analogous genes in transformed, transfected and transgenic mice. The present invention provides an animal model for the study of diabetes, obesity and tumors for the testing of potential therapeutic agents. The present invention provides oligonucleotide probes for the detection of the Agouti gene and mutations in the gene. The present invention also relates to the isolation and recombinant production of the Agouti gene product, production of antibodies to the Agouti gene product and their use as diagnostic and therapeutic agents.

This is a divisional of co-pending application Ser. No. 08/064,385 filedMay 21, 1993.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the isolation of a gene in which expression ofthe gene product correlates with the development of insulin independentdiabetes, hyperamylinemia, neoplasms and obesity in animals. Anotheraspect of the invention is the use of the gene in transgenic animals asan animal model for such diseases as insulin independent diabetes,obesity, hyperamylinemia, and neoplasms. The invention also relates tothe gene product, antibodies to the gene product and their use asdiagnostics and therapeutics.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The agouti locus (a) in chromosome 2 regulates the differentialproduction of black and yellow pigment granules that give rise theagouti coat color of the mouse. Agouti coloration, which is the truewild-type coat color of mice, is unusual in that it arises not from ahomogenous pigmentation of the pelage, but rather from a bandedcoloration pattern in which each hair is black with a subapical band ofyellow. One of the most interesting aspects of the agouti locus is thatit functions within the microenvironment of the hair follicle (Silver,W. K. and Russell, 1955, J. Exp. Zool., 130:199-220; Silvers, W. K.1958, J. Exp. Zool. 137:181-188; Silvers, W. K. 1958, J. Exp. Zool.137:189-198; Silvers, W. K. 1961 Science 134:368-373; Silvers, W. K.1979 in: The Coat Colors of Mice: A Model for Mammalian Gene Action andInteraction, New York, N.Y., Springer-Verlag, pp. 6-44), unlike mayother coat color genes, which act in a cell-autonomous manner within themelanocytes. Therefore, agouti must be regulating coat pigmentation bysome direct or indirect form of intercellular signaling within thefollicular environment.

Like many other genes that play a role in the regulation of coatpigmentation in the mouse, the agouti locus contributes to essentialdevelopmental processes unrelated to pigmentation (Geissler, E. N. etal., 1988, Cell 55:185-192; Witte, O. N. 1990 Cell 63:5-6; Epstein, D.J. et al. 1991 Cell 67:767-774; Mercer, J. A. et al. 1991 Nature349:709-713). For example, some of the individual alleles at the agoutilocus are associated with embryonic lethality, obesity, diabetes, andthe development of tumors in a wide variety of tissues. In fact, thelethal yellow (A^(y)) mutation at agouti was the first embryonic lethalmutation to be characterized in the mouse (Cuenot, L. 1905 Arch. Zool.Exp. Gen. 3:123-132). Embryos homozygous for A^(y) die very early indevelopment, around the time of implantation, possibly owing to a defectin trophectoderm differentiation (Eaton, G. J. and Green, M. M. 1963Genetica 34:155-161; Calarco, P. G. and Pederson, R. A. 1976;Papaioannou, V. E. and Gardner, R. L. 1979 J. Embryol. Exp. Morphol. 52:153-163).

Genetic analyses of numerous a locus mutants have been ongoing fornearly a century, and have led to the identification of at least 18dominant and recessive alleles and pseudoalleles of agouti (Silvers, W.K. 1979 ibid; Green, M. C. 1989. In: Genetic Variants and Strains of theLaboratory Mouse, M. F. Lyon and A. G. Searle, eds., Oxford, OxfordUniversity Press, pp. 17-20). Different combinations of alleles accountfor an array of different phenotypes, ranging from subtle differences incoat color as compared with the wild type, to drastic changes in thedistribution of pigmentation in different regions of the animal,particularly across the dorso-ventral surface. An intricate dominancehierarchy exists in which alleles associated with phaeomelanin (yellow)production are generally dominant over alleles associated with eumelanin(Black or brown, depending on alleles at other loci) production. Thisrelationship is exemplified by several alleles that date back to themouse fancy: lethal yellow (A^(y)), which confers an all-yellowphenotype in the heterozygous condition, black-and-tan(a^(t)), whichgives rise to an all-black dorsum and an all-yellow ventrum (Dunn, L. C.1928 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 14:816-819), nonagouti (a), whichgives rise to a predominantly black phenotype, except for small amountsof phaeomelanin around the pinnae, nipples, and perineum, and extremenonagouti (a^(c)), which confers a completely black phenotype(Hollander, W. F. and Gowen, J. W. 1956 J. Hered. 47:221-224).

The large number of alleles and the wide range of phenotypes associatedwith the agouti locus have been used as evidence by some investigatorsto propose that the agouti locus is comprised of multiple "mini-loci"and not a single gene. According to this hypothesis, each gene of themini-locus plays a role in regulating pigmentation in different parts ofthe body, particularly over the dorsal and ventral surfaces, and aroundthe pinae, nipples, and perineum. Support for this assertion stems fromthe finding that changes from yellow to black pigmentation proceed fromthe dorsal to the ventral regions as one progresses from the mostdominant to the most recessive mutation of the agouti allelic series.For example, phaeomelanin progressively disappears from the mid-dorsumwith A^(i) /a (A^(i), intermediate yellow), from the lateral dorsum witha^(t) /a^(t), from the ventral surface with a/a, and from the pinnae,nipples, and perineum with a^(c). With the mini-locus hypothesis,different genes should be affected by mutations associated with theindividual alleles in the hierarchy. The present invention demonstratesthat the structure and expression of the same gene is affected bymutations at the top (A^(y)), middle (a^(t) and a), and bottom (a^(e))of the allelic series. These results disprove the mini-locus hypothesis.

Although the agouti alleles have been extensively characterized withclassical genetic techniques, the structure of the gene(s) responsiblefor a locus function had not been determined until the presentinvention. Attempts by others to isolate the gene using positionalcloning techniques, failed to isolate the gene (Barsh and Epstein 1989a.Genomics 121:811-818; Siracusa et al. 1987 a Genetics 117:93-100;Siracusa et al. 1989 Genetics 122:669-679; Siracusa 1991. Ann. N.Y.Acad. Sci 642:419-430.).

A radiation-induced inversion mutation, called Is(17;In2)Id,aJGso(abbreviated Is1Gso), which contains DNA breakpoints in the limbdeformity (ld) and agouti loci, two regions that are normally separatedby 22 cM on chromosome 2 (Woychik, R. P. et al. 1990a Proc. Natl. Acad.Sci., U.S.A. 87:2588-2592; Bultman, S. J. et al. 1991 Proc. Natl. Acad.Sci., U.S.A. 88:8062-8066) was previously described. Utilizing a DNAprobe from the Id^(Hd) insertional mutant (Woychik, R. P. et al. 1985Nature 318: 36-40), 22 cM were jumped with the inversion which allowed aregion of DNA that maps to the agouti locus to be identified (Woychik etal. 1990a, ibid). Moreover, this region also hybridizes to sequencesthat are rearranged in several agent-induced a locus mutations (Bultman,S. J. et al. 1991, ibid). Here we present the molecular characterizationof a gene from this region of DNA that is structurally altered inseveral a locus mutations and is expressed in a manner appropriate foragouti function. The present invention demonstrates that there is onegene associated with the a locus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to nucleic acid sequences in whichexpression of the gene product is associated with the development ofdiabetes, obesity, hyperamylinemia and the development of tumors in awide variety of tissues in animals. Such nucleic acid sequences may besynthetic DNA or RNA sequences or isolated natural DNA or RNA sequencesand any functionally equivalent nucleic acid sequences, analogs andportions thereof. Such DNA sequences may be complementary DNA (cDNA) orgenomic DNA. The present invention also relates to anti-sense nucleicacid sequences.

It is also an object of this invention to provide transgenic animalscapable of promoting a disease such as obesity, diabetes hyperamylinemiaand neoplasms in the transfected animals with expression of the geneproduct.

In general, the invention features a transgenic non-human vertebrateanimal (preferably a mammal, e.g., a cow, pig, mouse, rabbit, rat andthe like) containing germ cells and somatic cells which contain a genewhich is substantially homologous with a vertebrate gene or a portionthereof which is capable of promoting (i.e., increases the probabilityof developing) the diseases: non-insulin-dependent diabetes, obesity,neoplasms and hyperamylinemia. The gene (i.e., the gene as it existsprior to introduction into the animal) is introduced into the animal, oran ancestor of the animal, at an embryonic stage (preferably theone-cell, or fertilized oocyte, stage, and generally not later thanabout the 8-cell stage). The gene preferably is substantially homologouswith (i.e., greater than 50% homologous in terms of encoded amino acidsequence) a naturally occurring vertebrate gene or portion thereof ortheir vertebrate counterparts, preferably the murine Agouti gene or thehuman Agouti gene counterpart. In addition, the gene may be avertebrate-derived gene or sequence thereof, and also substantiallyhomologous genes found from other sources such as invertebrates, plants,virus, protozoas, bacteria and the like which function in an equivalentmanner in the transfected animal.

DNA sequences of the genes of Agouti are shown in FIGS. 2 and 9. Anygenomic, recombinant gene or functionally equivalent sequence thereofderived from this sequence or a substantially homologous sequence orportions thereof may be used to produce the transgenic animals of theinvention.

There are several means by which transgenic animals can be made. Onemethod involves the use of a transfecting retrovirus containing thetransgene. Another method involves directly injecting the transgene intothe embryo. Yet another method employs the embryonic stem cellmethodology known to workers in this field.

Preferably, transcription of the gene is under the control of a promotersequence different from the promoter sequence controlling transcriptionof the endogenous coding sequence. Transcription of the gene can also beunder the control of a synthetic promoter sequence. The promotersequence controlling transcription of the gene may be active (i.e., canpromote gene expression) in all tissues for example Beta-actin promoteror may be a tissue specific promoter such as the insulin promoter, whichwould direct expression to the β-cells within the pancreas. The promoterthat controls transcription of the recombinant gene may be of viralorigin; example are promoters sometimes derived from mouse mammary tumorvirus (MMTV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV).

Introduction of the gene at the fertilized oocyte stage ensures that thegene sequence will be present in the germ cells and somatic cells of thetransgenic "founder" animal. (As used herein, founder (abbreviated "F")means the animal into which the gene was originally introduced at theone cell mouse embryo stage.) The presence of the gene sequence in thegerm cells of the transgenic founder animal in turn means that some ofthe founder animal's descendants will carry the gene sequence in germcells and somatic cells. Introduction of the gene sequence at a laterembryonic stage might result in the gene's absence from some somaticcells or germ cells of the founder animal, but the descendants of suchan animal that inherit the gene will carry the gene in all of their germcells and somatic cells.

The transgenic animals of the invention can be used as models to testfor agents potentially useful in the treatment of non-insulin-dependentdiabetes, obesity, hyperamylinemia and neoplasms. The agent to be testedcan be administered to an animal of the invention and the disease statemonitored. The transgenic animals of the invention can also be used totest a material suspected of promoting non-insulin-dependent diabetes,obesity, hyperamylinemia and neoplasms. The transgenic animals of thepresent invention are useful for screening potentially diagnosticreagents for the diagnosis or prognosis of diabetes, obesity and cancerin humans or diagnostic reagents which may be predictive of thedevelopment of such diseases.

Such therapeutic and diagnostic reagents may be peptides, antibodies,cytokines, growth factors, growth inhibitors, chemicals,chemotherapeutics, vitamins, minerals, oligonucleotides, antisensenucleic acids and the like.

The transgenic animals of the present invention are also useful indetermining the therapeutically effective dose of such therapeuticagents for use in treatment of animals afflicted with diabetes, obesityand cancers, in particular humans so afflicted. Until now, there havebeen no satisfactory animal models in which these diseases can be madeto occur in a reliable and predictable fashion in a substantialproportion of animals in which these agents could be tested, and fromwhich the gene at the mutant locus has been cloned.

The animals of the invention can also be used as a source of cells forcell culture. Cells from the animals may advantageously exhibitdesirable properties as cultured cells. Where the promoter sequencecontrolling transcription of the gene sequence is inducible, cell growthrate and other culture characteristics can be controlled by adding oreliminating the inducing factor.

Obesity and non-insulin dependent diabetes are genetically inheriteddisorders in humans and mice. The obesity-associated diabetes of theA^(y) and A^(vy) mutant animals bears remarkable similarity tonon-insulin dependent diabetes in obese humans. This is the first genefor genetic obesity to be cloned. Thus transgenic animals expressing thegene provides an animal model which is analogous to the human disease.Therefore the present invention provides transgenic animal model forstudying diabetes, obesity and cancer in humans. Additionally, thepresent invention is useful for the molecular analysis of the biology,biochemistry and physiology of diabetes, obesity and cancer.

The present invention provides methods capable of detecting nucleic acidsequences associated with a gene in which expression of the gene productcorrelates with the development of diabetes, hyperamylinemia, neoplasmsand obesity in animals, which comprises a) providing a test samplecomprising nucleic acids isolated from a test animal specimen, b)providing at least one pair of single stranded oligonucleotide primersselected so that the oligonucleotides of the pair are complementary tothe 5' abd 3' ends of one of double stranded cDNA nucleic acid sequencesassociated with the mRNA from the gene, c) combining the primer pairwith the test sample under conditions such that the primer pair willhybridize sufficiently specifically to its nucleic acid sequence, d)treating the hybridized primers under conditions such that primerextension products are simultaneously synthesized for all sequences towhich a primer is hybridized, e) repeating steps c) and d) until thenucleic acid sequences present are sufficiently amplified to bedetected, and f) detecting the amplified nucleic acid sequences.

The particular uses and advantages of the invention include, but are notlimited to: detection and cloning of the gene in which expression of thegene product correlates with the development of diabetes,hyperamylinemia, neoplasms and obesity in animals; detection of theAgouti gene and substantially homologous DNA sequences; detection ofmutations in the gene; early detection of animals at risk of developingdiabetes, obesity, neoplasms, and hyperamylinemia; and early treatmentof afflicted animals.

The present invention is useful as a screening method for the detectionof the gene in which expression of the gene product correlates with thedevelopment of diabetes, hyperamylinemia, neoplasms and obesity inanimals, preferably the Agouti gene or substantially homologous genes inanimals, preferably mammals. The inventive method utilizes amplificationof nucleic acid sequences specifically associated with the gene,oligonucleotides or primer pairs, each specific for a nucleic acidsequence of the gene, provide the basis for amplification of the desirednucleic acid sequence. The inventive methods can be used to 1) identifythe presence of the gene or 2) to screen for the presence of mutationsin the gene.

The present invention also encompasses novel oligonucleotide probesuseful in methods to amplify nucleic acid sequences, cloning of a geneor portions thereof and detecting the gene in which the expression ofthe gene product correlates with the development of diabeteshyperamylinemia, neoplasms and obesity in animals. Such probes are alsouseful in methods of diagnosing or prognosing such diseases. Of interestare probes which are capable of hybridizing to the Agouti gene orsubstantially homologous sequences or portions thereof; or a homologousor counterpart gene in animals, preferably mammals and of particularinterest, the human counterpart gene to Agouti.

The present invention also contemplates kits which contain the reagentsused in the practice of the inventive methods. The kits comprise, in aconvenient package, the reagents used in screening for the gene orportions thereof, i.e., pairs of single stranded oligonucleotide primersselected so that the oligonucleotides of each pair are complementary tothe 3' ends of one of double stranded nucleic acid sequence associatedwith and reagents for nucleic acid synthesis, whereby treatment of atest sample containing nucleic acid with the primers and the reagentresults in hybridization of each primer pair to its target sequence andsimultaneous amplification of the target sequences to which primers arehybridized.

It is an object of this invention to provide synthetic nucleic acidsequences capable of directing production of recombinant Agoutiproteins, as well as equivalent natural nucleic acid sequences. Suchnatural nucleic acid sequences may also be isolated from a genomiclibrary from which the gene capable of directing synthesis of the Agoutiproteins may be identified and isolated.

The invention further relates to a method for detection of the Agoutigene or counterpart genes in animals in biological samples based onselective amplification of gene fragments utilizing primers derived fromthe Agouti genomic or cDNA or substantially homologous sequences.

The invention also relates to the use of single-stranded anti-sensepoly- or oligonucleotides derived form the Agouti genomic cDNA orsubstantially homologous sequences to inhibit the expression of theAgouti gene or counterpart genes in animals as a means of inhibiting ofmodulating the diseases; obesity, diabetes, hyperinsulinemia and tumors.

The invention also relates to the method of preparing recombinant Agoutiproteins derived from an Agouti genomic sequence by cloning the nucleicacid and inserting the cDNA into an expression vector and expressing therecombinant protein in a host cell.

The invention also relates to the use of the resultant recombinantproteins or portions thereof as diagnostic or therapeutic agents. Suchtherapeutic agents may be useful in treating diseases such as bulemia,anorexia and the like.

The present invention also encompasses methods of detecting the Agoutigene or counterpart gene product in biological samples. Such methods areuseful for diagnosis of disease caused by the expression of the Agoutigene product, and for monitoring the progression of such disease. Suchmethods are also useful for monitoring the efficacy of therapeuticagents during the course of treatment of the disease in an animal,preferably a mammal.

Another aspect of the invention is a method for the manufacture of arecombinant protein which is encoded by a DNA sequence in whichexpression of the gene product is associated with the development ofdiabetes, obesity, hyperamylinemia and neoplasms in animals. Inparticular, this invention relates to a method for the manufacture of arecombinant protein encoded by the Agouti gene, counterpart genes, or byits functionally equivalent nucleic acid sequences, or analogs. It is afurther object of this invention to provide a method for the manufactureof analogs of the protein which is encoded by DNA sequences in whichexpession of the gene product is associated with the development ofdiabetes, obesity, hyperamylinemia and neoplasms in animals.

The present invention also relates to antibodies, antigen-bindingfragments of the antibodies, chimeric antibodies and their functionalequivalents that react with a protein or fragment that is encoded by agene in which expression of the gene product is associated with thedevelopment of the following diseases: insulin-independent diabetes,obesity, hyperamylinemia and neoplasms. The antibodies or theirfunctional equivalents may be used as therapeutic agents in preventingor treating such diseases in animals. The antibodies or their functionalequivalents may be used in immunoassays. Such assays are useful formonitoring the disease progression and are useful for monitoring theefficacy of therapeutic agents during the course of treatment ofinsulin-independent diabetes, obesity, hyperamylinemia and neoplasms.

Additionally, to achieve the objects and in accordance with the purposesof the present invention, pharmaceutical compositions containing, as anactive ingredient, an isolated naturally occurring or recombinantprotein or portion thereof encoded by a gene or functionally equivalentDNA sequences that encodes expression of the gene product promotesdevelopment of insulin-independent diabetes, obesity hyperamylinemia,and neoplasms.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thedescription of the preferred embodiments thereof, and from the claims.

The contents of all cited patents and journal articles are incorporatedherein by reference.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects, features, and many of the attendant advantagesof the invention will be better understood upon a reading of thefollowing detailed description when considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings wherein:

FIGS. 1A-1C. Identification of an Exon Near the Distal InversionBreakpoint of Is1Gso. FIG. 1A: Restriction map of a region of DNA thatmaps to the agouti locus and is associated with structural alterationsin the extreme agouti mutations, Is1Gso and a^(5MNU). The positions oftwo DNA probes that lie in close proximity to the distal inversionbreakpoint in Is1Gso and the 2.8 kb deletion in a^(5MNU) are indicated.R, EcoRI; B, BamHI; X, XbaI. FIG. 1B Identification of a segment of DNAnear the distal inversion breakpoint of Is1Gso that is conserved ingenomic DNA from several mammalian species. Probe A in FIG. 1A was ³² Plabeled and hybridized to EcoRI(R)- or PstI(P)-digested DNA fromhamster, cat, and dog. The extensive smearing in hamster DNA is due tothe presence of a rodent-specific repetitive element in probe A. TheλHindIII molecular size standard is shown on the left in kilobases. FIG.1C: Identification of coding sequence near the distal inversionbreakpoint of Is1Gso by Northern blot analysis. Probe B in FIG. 1A was³² P labeled and hybridized to poly(A)⁺ RNA from wild-type skin of a day4 neonate. The positions of the 28S and 18SrRNA subunits are indicatedon the left. Higher molecular size smearing was due to the presence ofmoderately repetitive sequences in the probe.

FIG. 2. Shows Nucleotide and Predicted Amino Acid Sequence of the cDNA(SEQ ID NO: 1 and SEQ ID NO 11). The putative signal peptide sequence isunderscored with a double line and the polyadenylation signal with asingle line. The boxed region represents a highly basic domain that hasthe potential to be phosphorylated at a number of sites designated byPO₄. The asterisk denotes a potential N-linked glycosylation site, andcysteine residues are indicated by closed circles. Arrows delimit theboundaries of the four individual exons.

FIGS. 3A-3C. Shows Intro-Exon Structure of the Wild-Type Locus and TwoExtreme Nonagouti Mutations. FIG. 3A: Schematic representation of thegenomic structure of the agouti gene in DNA from wild-type, Is1Gso, anda^(5MNU) mice. The four exons are depicted as closed rectangles, and theintrons and flanking sequences are shown as a solid line. The firstexon, which is 72 bp long in the cDNA clone, is 8-10 bp longer at its 5'end based on RNAase protection experiments (data not shown). The 3'junction of the last exon corresponds to the 3' end of the cDNA clone,immediately upstream of the poly(A) tract. The precise location of eachintron-exon junction was ascertained by identifying where genomic DNAsequences diverged from the cDNA sequence. At each splice junction, thegenomic DNA sequence matched the canonical sequence for 5' splice donorand 3' splice acceptor sites (Mount, 1982 Nucl. Acids Res. 10:459-472)(data not shown). The open rectangle in the Is1Gso schematic representsgenomic DNA from the ld gene in the opposite transcriptional orientationrelative to agouti. The 2.8 kb intragenic deletion in the a^(5MNU)mutation is depicted by a horizontal dashed line above the mutant locus,with the deleted region shown below the mutant locus. The positions oftwo probes (A and B) and the sizes of the EcoRI fragments they identifyare shown. R, EcoRI; B, BamHI. FIG. 33: Identification of RFLVsspecifically associated with the Is1Gso and a^(5MNU) mutations.Wild-type (lane 1, C3H strain), Is1Gso homozygous (lane 2), and a^(5MNU)homozygous (lane 3) genomic DNA was digested with EcoRI, blotted, andhybridized with a ³² P-labelled fragment of DNA corresponding to probe A(lanes 1 and 2) or probe B (lane 3) in FIG. 3A. The sizes of the DNAfragments detected by probes A and B are shown on the left in kilobases.FIG. 3C: Nucleotide sequence of the distal inversion breakpoint ofIs1Gso and the 5' and 3' deletion breakpoints of a^(5MNU) compared withthe wild type. The vertical bars indicate the positions of the DNAbreakpoints. The lowercase nucleotides in Is1Gso represent sequence ofthe Id gene, and the horizontal lines in a^(5MNU) represent deletednucleotides.

FIG. 4. Northern Blot Analysis of Wild-Type (A/A) Neonatal Skin. Thefull-length cDNA clone (FIG. 2) was ³² P labelled and hybridized topoly(A)⁺ RNA (2.5 μg per lane) from skin of day 1-8 wild-type neonates(1-8) and day 6 W/W^(v) neonates (W). RNA molecular size standards areshown on the left in kilobases. The filter was subsequently hybridizedwith a tubulin probe as a control to analyze the quantity and quality ofthe RNA in each lane.

FIG. 5. Shows Northern Blot Analysis of Adult Tissues from Wild-type(A/A) Mice. The full-length cDNA clone was ³² P labeled and hybridizedto a variety of poly(A)⁺ RNAs (2.5 μg per lane). RNA molecular sizestandards are shown on the left in kilobases. The filter wassubsequently hybridized with a tubulin probe as a control to analyze thequantity and quality of the RNA in each lane.

FIGS. 6A-6C. Shows the Identification of DNA Structural AlterationsAssociated With the a and a^(t) Alleles. FIG. 6A: Wild-type (A, C3Hstrain), nonagouti (a, C57BL/E strain), and black-and-tan (a^(t), SB B+Tstock) genomic DNA was digested with BamHI or BgIII, blotted, andhybridized with a ³² P-labeled fragment of DNA corresponding to probe1.5 (BamHI digest) or probe 0.6 (BglII digest), shown as thickhorizontal lines in the illustration of the wild-type allele in FIG 6B.The size of the DNA fragments detected by the two probes are shown inthe left margin in kilobases. The SB B+T mutation arose in a crossbetween the strains SEC/E and C57BL/E, both of which are nonagouti (a/a)homozygotes and display a 16.0 kb BamHI fragment with probe 1.5 and a6.0 kb BglII fragment with probe 0.6, although only the C57BL/E resultis shown. The parental strain from which the original nonagouti amutation rose is not known; however, two wild-type inbred strains, FVB/Nand 101, were analyzed in addition to C3H, and all displayed thewild-type pattern illustrated for C3H. FIG. 6B: Schematic representationof 5' end of the gene shown in FIG. 3 from wild-type (A), nonagouti (a),and SB B+T mutant (a^(t)) mice. The first exon is shown as a closedrectangle, and the bold horizontal line represents the 5' flankingsequence and portion of the first intron. Probe 1.5 detects a 8.0 kbfragment in wild type, and RFLV fragments of 16.0 kb and 10.0 kb in thea and a^(t) mutant alleles, respectively. Probe 0.6 detects a 2.0 kbwild-type fragment and RFLV mutant allele-specific fragments of 6.0 kbin a and 8.0 kb in a^(t). These RFLVs are due to the presence of atleast 11 kb (a) or 5.5 kb (a^(t)) of additional sequence in the mutantalleles within a highly localized 700 bp region on the wild-type DNAbetween BglII and EcoRI sites. The insertions for each allele have notyet been cloned and mapped, and therefore are depicted by vertical barswith open parentheses at the end. B, BamHI; R, EcoRI, Bg, BgIII.

FIG. 7. Northern Blot Analysis of Neonatal Skin from Several AgoutiLocus Mutants. The full-length cDNA clone (FIG. 2) was ³² P labelled andhybridized to poly(A)⁺ RNA (2.5 μg per lane) from neonatal skin ofspontaneous or agent-induced a locus mutations. RNA molecular sizestandards (in kilobases) and the positions of the 28S and 18S rRNAsubunits are shown. The filter was subsequently hybridized with atubulin probe as a control to analyze the quantity and quality of theRNA in each lane. D, skin derived from the dorsal surface of neonates;V, skin derived from the ventral surface of neonates; Is1Gso, day 4Is1Gso homozygote; 5MNU, day 5 a^(5MNU) homozygote; A/A, day 5 wildtype; a^(t) /a^(t), day 5 black-and-tan; A^(y) /a, day 6 lethal yellowheterozygote; a/a, day 6 nonagouti (C57BL/10).

FIG. 8. Shows Northern Blot Analysis of Adult Tissues from Wild-Type andLethal Yellow Heterozygotes. The full-length cDNA clone (FIG. 2) was ³²P labelled and hybridized to poly(A)⁺ RNA (2.5 μg per lane) from adulttissues or neonatal skin of wild-type or A^(y) /-mutant animals. RNAmolecular size standards are shown on the left in kilobases, thepositions of the 28S and 18S rRNA subunits are indicated on the right.The filter was subsequently hybridized with a tubulin probe as a controlto analyze the quantity and quality of the RNA in each lane. A^(y) /-,A^(y) heterozygotes with genotypes of A^(y) /a and A^(y) /a^(c) wereused in this analysis; d4 skin, day 4 postnatal skin; d6 skin, day 6postnatal skin.

FIGS. 9A-9B. Shows Molecular Analysis of the Size-Altered A^(y)Transcript. FIG 9A: Schematic representation of the wild-type and lethalyellow (A^(y)) transcripts produced by the agouti locus. Based on theanalysis of cDNA clones, the A^(y) transcript is identical to thewild-type transcript for the sequence derived from the second, third,and fourth exons. However, the 5' end of the second exon and the A^(y)transcript is flanked by a sequence that is different from the regioncorresponding to the first exon on the wild-type transcript. Moreover,our preliminary evidence suggests that this sequence unique to A^(y)corresponds to the first noncoding exon (approximately 300 nt in length)of another gene. The genomic organization of the wild-type gene is shownabove, with the four exons depicted as closed rectangles and the intronsand flanking sequences shown as a solid line. B, BamHI; R, EcoRI. FIG.9B: Nucleotide sequence comparison of the wild-type and A^(y) cDNAclones, and comparison of the 5' end of the A^(y) cDNA with itscorresponding genomic region. The sequence divergence point ispositioned with a vertical line and corresponds to the junction betweenthe first and second exons of the wild-type cDNA. Also, at this samejunction point, the genomic sequence diverges from the A^(y) cDNA and isfollowed by a canonical 5' splice donor (Mount, 1982, ibid).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The coat color of the wild-type mouse (and many other mammalian species)results from the formation of a subterminal yellow band in an otherwiseblack or brown hair shaft, a process that is regulated by the agoutilocus in chromosome 2. Unlike many other regions of the mouse genomethat regulate coat pigmentation, the agouti locus does not function in amelanocyte-specific manner, but rather elicits its response from withinthe follicular environment. Specifically, it appears that the agoutilocus normally regulates the differential production of black and yellowpigments, by the melanocyte, through some direct or indirect form ofintercellular communication.

Many spontaneous and induced mutations have been characterized at theagouti locus, and two of these in particular, A^(y) (lethal yellow) andA^(vy) (viable yellow), are dominant and have relevance to human health.Both of these mutations exhibit a complex phenotype which includeshyperphagia, increased efficiency of food utilization, obesity,increased muscle mass and body size, hyperinsulinemia, insulinresistance, hyperamylinemia, impaired glucose tolerance, potentiation ofresponses to tumorigenic stimuli, and enhanced promotion and progressionof transformed cells by factors associated with the obesity (reviewed inWolff et al., 1986 J. Hered. 77:151-158; see also Wolff et al., 1987Carcinogen 8:1889-1894; Gill and Yen, 1991, Life Sciences 48:703-710).

The present invention encompasses the cloning and identification of theagouti gene. This gene is approximately 18 kb in length, contains fourexons, and gives rise to a 0.8 kb mRNA that has the potential to encodea 131 amino acid secreted protein (Woychik et al., 1990a, ibid; Bultmanet al, 1991, ibid; Bultman et al., 1992). The present invention includesa polypeptide of approximately 131 amino acids in length andapproximately 15,000 daltons in molecular size (FIG. 2) and functionallyequivalent peptides or fragments thereof. This protein is secreted,since it contains a putative signal peptide at its N-terminus (FIG. 2).In addition, the molecule has several potential phosphorylation sites, ahighly basic domain in the middle of the protein, and a cysteine-richregion near its C-terminus. Normally, as expected, the agouti mRNA isonly produced within neonatal skin. However, the present invention hasshown that the wild-type agouti gene product is ectopicallyoverexpressed in mutants carrying the A^(y) or A^(vy) alleles (Bultmanet al., 1992 Cell 71:1195-1204; Michaud et al., 1993 Genes andDevelopment in press). It has been shown by the present invention thatthe ubiquitous expression of the normal agouti gene product correlateswith the development of hyperamylinemia, neoplasms, insulin-independentdiabetes and obesity and may be directly responsible for the dominantpleiotropic effects associated with A^(y) and A^(vy) and equivalentmutations in other animals, preferably mammals.

The cloning of the gene of the present invention, is the first andpresently the only gene that has been cloned that is directly associatedwith an obesity/diabetes phenotype in an animal model. Other rodentmodels for obesity, including the ob/ob and db/db mouse mutants, alongwith the obese F(a/Fa) Zucker rat, have been studied extensively, andmany investigators have been unsuccessful in cloning the genesassociated with these mutants. The present methods and probes are usefulin isolating and cloning analogous, or counterpart genes in otheranimals, especially mammals. Probes which hybridize to the mouse Agoutigene have been shown to hybridize to a unique human sequence withsubstantial homology to a portion of the mouse agouti gene. Such probesare useful for the isolation and cloning of the human counterpart agoutigene.

Based on studies of the A^(y) and A^(vy) mutants, ectopic expression ofthe agouti gene in muscle, liver and/or adipose tissue, the majortargets insulin action, causes the insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia,decreased glucose tolerance, and also the obesity. Transgenic mouse ofthe present invention are useful for evaluating the relationship ofobesity to the development of insulin resistance associated with type IIdiabetes. To test whether expression of the agouti exclusively withinadipose tissue in associated with just the obesity, and whether theexpression within the liver and/or muscle exclusively caused theinsulin-resistance, lines of transgenic mice that express the agoutigene specifically either in adipose tissue, or in the liver and/ormuscle are used. This is done by placing the agouti gene under thecontrol of muscle and/or liver, and fat-specific promoters/enhancers.Transgenic mice carrying each of the different tissue-specificexpression constructs are analyzed for expression compared to their nontransgenic (littermates and A^(y) /-mice as controls).

The polymerase chain reaction ("PCR") has been a significant developmentin genetic analysis, allowing amplification of minute amounts of aspecified gene sequence (U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,195; U.S. Pat. No.4,683,202; U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,159; B. I. Eisenstein (1990) The NewEngland Journal of Medicine 322:178-182; G. Schochetman et al. (1988)The Journal of Infectious Diseases 158:1154-1157), all incorporatedherein by reference. -In this method, a pair of single-strandedoligonucleotide primers, each complementary to sequences on oppositestrands of the target DNA, are selected to encompass the target sequenceto be amplified and define the two ends of the amplified stretch of DNA.After separating double stranded DNA and annealing the primers to the 3'end of the target sequence on each strand, two complementary secondstrands are synthesized by extension of the annealed primers using a DNApolymerase, i.e., a new single strand of DNA is synthesized for eachannealed primer. These newly synthesized DNA's, as well as the originalDNA sequence, can then be used for a second cycle of primer annealingand DNA synthesis. Accordingly, the desired target DNA sequence isamplified geometrically with each repetition of the cycle. Typically,within a few hours a target DNA sequence can be amplified 100,000 fold,particularly when automated methods are used to perform the cyclicreactions.

The polymerase chain reaction can also be used to specifically amplifyonly those target sequences which are expressed, i.e., those which aretranscribed. To do so, mRNA is isolated and cDNA is made from the RNAusing reverse transcriptase. The cDNA, which represents the expressedgenes, is then used as target DNA in the PCR amplification reaction.

Because of its high sensitivity and specificity, PCR has beensuccessfully used as a means for identifying microorganisms and virusesin the diagnosis of infections disease (B. I. Eisenstein (1990) J.Infectious Diseases 161: 595-602; L. Shih et al. (1990) J. MedicalVirology 30: 159-162; A. R. Lifson et al. (1990) J. Infectious Diseases161: 436-439; M. M. Anceschi et al. (1990) J. Virological Methods 28:59-66). PCR amplification has been used to detect changes in expressionof the dTMP synthase gene (i.e., changes in the level of mRNA)associated with drug resistance in human tumors (K. J. Scanlon (1989) J.Clinical Laboratory Analysis 3: 323-329; M. Kashani-Sabet et al. (1988)Cancer Research 48: 5775-5778). PCR has also been used to analyze pointmutations in HIV-1 reverse transcriptase which confer resistance to AZT(B. A. Larder et al. (1989) Science 246: 1155-1158) and point mutationsin the dihydrofolate reductasethymidylate synthase gene associated withpyrimethamine resistance in Plasmodium falciparum (A. F. Cowman et al.(1988) PNAS 85: 9109-9113; J. W. Zolg et al. (1989) Molecular andBiomedical Parasitology 36: 253-262; M. Tanaka et al. (1990) Molecularand Biochemical Parasitology 39: 127-134; J. W. Zolg et al. (1990)Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology 39: 257-266).

The present invention provides methods capable of detecting nucleic acidsequences associated with a gene in which expression of the gene productcorrelates with the development of diabetes, hyperamylinemia, neoplasmsand obesity in animals which comprise a) providing a test samplecomprising nucleic acid isolated from a specimen from a test animal, b)providing pairs of single stranded oligonucleotide primers selected sothat the oligonucleotides of each pair are complementary to the 3' endsof one double stranded DNA target sequences associated with the gene, c)combining the primer pairs with the test sample under conditions suchthat each primer pair will hybridize sufficiently specifically to itstarget sequence, d) treating the hybridized primers under conditionssuch that primer extension products are simultaneously synthesized forall sequences to which a primer is hybridized, e) repeating steps c) andd) until the target sequences present are sufficiently amplified to bedetected, and f) detecting the amplified target sequences.

The particular uses and advantages of the invention include, but are notlimited to: detection and cloning of the gene in which expression of thegene product correlates with the development of diabetes,hyperamylinemia, neoplasms and obesity in animals, detection of theAgouti gene and substantially homologous DNA sequences; detection ofmutations in the gene, early detection for animals at risk of developingdiabetes, obesity, neoplasms, and hyperamylinemia, and early treatmentof afflicted animals.

The present invention also relates to the use of single-strandedantisense poly-or oligonucleotides derived from sequences homologous tothe Agouti cDNA to inhibit the expression of the Agouti gene product.These anti-sense poly-or oligonucleotides can be either DNA or RNA. Thetargeted sequence is typically messenger RNA and more preferably, asignal sequence required for processing or translation of the RNA. Theantisense poly-or oligonucleotides can be conjugated to a polycationsuch as polylysine as disclosed in Lemaitre, M. et al. (1989) Proc NatlAcad Sci USA 84:648-652; and this conjugate can be administered to ananimal preferably a mammal in an amount sufficient to hybridize to andinhibit the function of the messenger RNA to prevent expression of theAgouti gene product or counterpart gene product.

The present invention also relates to the cloning of the Agouti gene andthe expression of the recombinant proteins and the cloning of the Agouticounterpart gene in animals, preferably mammals, particularly humans,using an expression system.

The present invention relates to isolated Agouti protein. Preferably,the Agouti protein of the present invention are substantially homologousto, and most preferably functionally equivalent to, the native Agoutiprotein. By "functionally equivalent" as used throughout thespecification and claims, it is meant that the compositions are capableof promoting the development of diabetes, hyperamylinemia, tumors andobesity in animals. By "substantially homologous" as used throughout theensuing specification and claims, is meant a degree of homology in theamino acid sequence to the native Agouti protein. Preferably the degreeof homology is in excess of 50%, preferably in excess of 70%, ofparticular interest are proteins being at least of 90% homologous withthe native Agouti protein.

In one embodiment the proteins or fragment thereof or analogs are thoseproteins or fragments thereof that are encoded by the Agouti gene. Ofparticular interest are proteins encoded by the Agouti gene depicted inFIG. 2, having sequence ID No.: 11.

It is contemplated that additions, substitutions or deletions ofdiscrete amino acids or of discrete sequences of amino acids may be madeto alter the biological activity of the Agouti proteins. The proteinsmay be naturally occurring or may be made by recombinant methods orchemically synthesized using methods known in the art for peptidesynthesis.

The present invention is also a nucleic acid sequence which is capableof directing the production of the above-discussed Agouti protein orproteins substantially homologous to the Agouti proteins and variantsthereof. One such nucleic acid sequence, designated C16, is depicted inFIG. 2 has SEQ ID NO.: 1. The deduced amino acid sequences encoded byAgouti gene starts at nucleotide 83 of SEQ. ID NO. 1 and extends tonucleotide 475.

Variations are contemplated in the DNA sequence which will result in aDNA sequence that is capable of directing production of analogs of theAgouti protein. It should be noted that the DNA sequence set forth aboverepresents a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Due to thedegeneracy of the genetic code, it is to be understood that numerouschoices of nucleotides may be made that will lead to a DNA sequencecapable of directing production of the instant Agouti proteins or theiranalogs. As such, DNA sequences which are functionally equivalent to thesequences set forth above or which are functionally equivalent tosequences that would direct production of analogs of the Agouti proteinsproduced pursuant to the amino acid sequence set forth above, areintended to be encompassed within the present invention.

The present invention includes a recombinant DNA method for themanufacture of Agouti proteins or fragments thereof. A natural orsynthetic nucleic acid sequence may be used to direct production of theAgouti proteins. In one embodiment of the invention, the methodcomprises:

(a) preparation of a nucleic acid sequence capable of directing a hostorganism to produce a protein encoded by the Agouti gene orsubstantially homologous or counterpart gene;

(b) cloning the nucleic acid sequence into a vector capable of beingtransferred into and replicated in a host organism, such vectorcontaining operational elements for the nucleic acid sequence;

(c) transferring the vector containing the nucleic acid and operationalelements into a host organism capable of expressing the protein;

(d) culturing the host organism under conditions appropriate foramplification of the vector and expression of the protein; and

(e) harvesting the protein.

In another embodiment of the invention, the method for the recombinantDNA synthesis of a protein encoded by nucleic acid sequences of theAgouti gene or substantially homologous or counterpart gene, comprises:

(a) culturing a transformed or transfected host organism containing anucleic acid sequence capable of directing the host organism to producea protein, under conditions such that the protein is produced, saidprotein exhibiting substantial homology to a native Agouti proteinhaving the amino acid sequence according to SEQ ID NO. 1 or fragments oranalogs thereof.

The vectors contemplated for use in the present invention include anyvectors into which a nucleic acid sequence as described above can beinserted, along with any preferred or required operational elements, andwhich vector can then be subsequently transferred into a host organismand replicated in such organism. Preferred vectors are those whoserestriction sites have been well documented and which contain theoperational elements preferred or required for transcription of thenucleic acid sequence.

The "operational elements" as discussed herein include at least onepromoter, at least one operator, at least one leader sequence, at leastone terminator codon, and any other DNA sequences necessary or preferredfor appropriate transcription and subsequent translation of the vectornucleic acid. In particular, it is contemplated that such vectors willcontain at least one origin of replication recognized by the hostorganism along with at least one selectable marker and at least onepromoter sequence capable of initiating transcription of the nucleicacid sequence.

In construction of the cloning vector of the present invention, itshould additionally be noted that multiple copies of the nucleic acidsequence and its attendant operational elements may be inserted intoeach vector. In such an embodiment, the host organism would producegreater amounts per vector of the desired Agouti protein. The number ofmultiple copies of the DNA sequence which may be inserted into thevector is limited only by the ability of the resultant vector due to itssize, to be transferred into and replicated and transcribed in anappropriate host microorganism.

In another embodiment, restriction digest fragments containing a codingsequence for Agouti protein or substantially homologous protein oranalogs thereof can be inserted into a suitable expression vector thatfunctions in prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells. By suitable is meant thatthe vector is capable of carrying and expressing a complete nucleic acidsequence coding for the Agouti proteins or substantially homologousproteins or analogs thereof. Preferred expression vectors are those thatfunction in a eukaryotic cell. Examples of such vectors include but arenot limited to vaccinia virus vectors, adenovirus or herpesviruses,preferably the baculovirus transfer vector, pBlueBac.

In yet another embodiment, the selected recombinant expression vectormay then be transfected into a suitable eukaryotic cell system forpurposes of expressing the recombinant protein. Such eukaryotic cellsystems include but are not limited to cell lines such as HeLa, MRC-5,SF9 insect cells or Cv-1.

The expressed recombinant protein may be detected by methods known inthe art which include Coomassie blue staining and immunoassays such asWestern blotting using sera containing anti-Agouti, antibody or by usingSouthern or Northern blots using labeled oligonucleotide probes.

In a further embodiment, the recombinant protein expressed by the hostcells can be obtained as a crude lysate or it can be purified bystandard protein purification procedures known in the art which mayinclude differential precipitation, molecular sieve chromatography,ion-exchange chromatography, isoelectric focusing, gel electrophoresis,affinity, and immunoaffinity chromatography and the like. In the case ofimmunoaffinity chromatography, the recombinant protein may be purifiedby passage through a column containing a resin which has bound theretoantibodies specific for the Agouti protein or substantially homologousproteins or analogs thereof.

The recombinant Agouti proteins, and substantially homologous proteinsand analogs of the invention can be used as a therapeutic agent. Thetherapeutic agent may be a cell, cell lysate from cells transfected witha recombinant expression vector or a culture supernatant containing theexpressed protein. Alternatively, the therapeutic agent is a partiallyor substantially purified recombinant protein.

While it is possible for the protein to be administered in a pure orsubstantially pure form, it is preferable to present it as apharmaceutical composition, formulation or preparation.

The formulations of the present invention, both for veterinary and forhuman use, comprise an immunogen as described above, together with oneor more pharmaceutically acceptable carriers and optionally othertherapeutic ingredients. The carrier(s) must be "acceptable" in thesense of being compatible with the other ingredients of the formulationand not deleterious to the recipient thereof. The formulations mayconveniently be presented in unit dosage form and may be prepared by anymethod well-known in the pharmaceutical art.

All methods include the step of bringing into association the activeingredient with the carrier which constitutes one or more accessoryingredients. In general, the formulations are prepared by uniformly andintimately bringing into association the active ingredient with liquidcarriers or finely divided solid carriers or both, and then, ifnecessary, shaping the product into the desired formulation.

Formulations suitable for intravenous intramuscular, subcutaneous, orintraperitoneal administration conveniently comprise sterile aqueoussolutions of the active ingredient with solutions which are preferablyisotonic with the blood of the recipient. Such formulations may beconveniently prepared by dissolving solid active ingredient in watercontaining physiologically compatible substances such as sodium chloride(e.g. 0.1-2.0M), glycine, and the like, and having a buffered pHcompatible with physiological conditions to produce an aqueous solution,and rendering said solution sterile. These may be present in unit ormulti-dose containers, for example, sealed ampoules or vials.

The formulations of the present invention may incorporate a stabilizer.Illustrative stabilizers are polyethylene glycol, proteins, saccharides,amino acids, inorganic acids, and organic acids which may be used eitheron their own or as admixtures. Additional pharmaceutical methods may beemployed to control the duration of action. Controlled releasepreparations may be achieved through the use of polymer to complex orabsorb the proteins or their derivatives.

The proteins of the present invention may be supplied in the form of akit, alone, or in the form of a pharmaceutical composition as describedabove.

The administration of the protein or peptides of the present inventionmay be for therapeutic purpose. The administration of the protein orpeptides serves to prevent or attenuate any subsequent diseasedevelopment associated with the overexpression of the Agouti geneproduct in a mammal. When provided therapeutically, the protein orpeptide is provided at (or shortly after) any symptom of disease causedby expression of the Agouti gene product or substantially homologousgene product. The therapeutic administration of the immunogen serves toattenuate the disease. It is anticipated that small peptides homologousto a portion of the Agouti gene product may inhibit the function of thefull length gene product.

In addition to use as a therapeutic agent, the compositions can be usedto prepare antibodies to Agouti protein. The antibodies also can be useddirectly as therapeutic agents. To prepare antibodies, a host animal isimmunized using the Agouti protein or substantially homologous proteinor fragment thereof. The protein or fragments thereof may or may not bebound to a carrier to make the protein immunogenic. Examples of suchcarrier molecules include but are not limited to bovine serum albumin(BSA), keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH), tetanus toxoid, and the like.The protein can be administered by any route appropriate for antibodyproduction such as intravenous, intraperitoneal, intramuscular,subcutaneous, and the like. The protein may be administered once or atperiodic intervals until a significant titer of anti-Agouti antibody isproduced. The host serum or plasma is collected following an appropriatetime interval to provide a composition comprising antibodies reactivewith the protein or portions thereof. The gamma globulin fraction or theIgG antibodies can be obtained, for example, by use of saturatedammonium sulfate or DEAE Sephadex, or other techniques known to thoseskilled in the art.

The antibody compositions can be made even more compatible with the hostsystem by minimizing potential adverse immune system responses. This isaccomplished by removing all or a portion of the Fc portion of a foreignspecies antibody or using an antibody of the same species as the hostanimal, for example, the use of antibodies from human/human hybridomas.Humanized antibodies (i.e., nonimmunogenic in a human) may be produced,for example, by replacing an immunogenic portion of an antibody with acorresponding, but nonimmunogenic portion (i.e., chimeric antibodies).Such chimeric antibodies may contain the reactive or antigen bindingportion of an antibody from one species and the Fc portion of anantibody (nonimmunogenic) from a different species. Examples of chimericantibodies, include but are not limited to, non-human mammal-humanchimeras, rodent-human chimeras, murine-human and rat-human chimeras(Robinson et al., International Patent Application 184,187; TaniguchiM., European Patent Application 171,496; Morrison et al., EuropeanPatent Application 173,494; Neuberger et al., PCT Application WO86/01533; Cabilly et al., 1987 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 84:3439;Nishimura et al., 1987 Canc. Res. 47:999; Wood et al., 1985 Nature314:446; Shaw et al., 1988 J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 80: 15553, allincorporated herein by reference).

General reviews of "humanized" chimeric antibodies are provided byMorrison S., 1985 Science 229:1202 and by Oi et al., 1986 BioTechniques4:214.

Suitable "humanized" antibodies can be alternatively produced by CDR orCEA substitution (Jones et al., 1986 Nature 321:552; Verhoeyan et al.,1988 Science 239:1534; Biedleret al. 1988 J. Immunol. 141:4053, allincorporated herein by reference).

The antibodies or antigen binding fragments may also be produced bygenetic engineering. The technology for expression of both heavy andlight cain genes in E. coli is the subject the PCT patent applications;publication number WO 901443, WO901443, and WO 9014424 and in Huse etal., 1989 Science 246:1275-1281.

It may be preferable to use monoclonal antibodies. Monoclonalanti-Agouti antibodies or anti-idiotype antibodies can be produced asfollows. The spleen or lymphocytes from an immunized animal are removedand immortalized or used to prepare hybridomas by methods known to thoseskilled in the art. (Goding, J. W. 1983. Monoclonal Antibodies:Principles and Practice, Pladermic Press, Inc., NY, N.Y., pp. 56-97). Toproduce a human-human hybridoma, a human lymphocyte donor is selected.Lymphocytes can be isolated from a peripheral blood sample or spleencells may be used if the donor is subject to splenectomy. Epstein-Barrvirus (EBV) can be used to immortalize human lymphocytes or a humanfusion partner can be used to produce human-human hybridomas. Primary invitro immunization with peptides can also be used in the generation ofhuman monoclonal antibodies.

Antibodies secreted by the immortalized cells are screened to determinethe clones that secrete antibodies of the desired specificity. Cellsproducing antibodies of the desired specificity are selected.

Antibodies are useful in immunoassays for diagnosing or prognosing ofdiseases associated with expression of the Agouti gene product.

Immunoassays of the present invention may be a radioimmunoassay, Westernblot assay, immunofluorescent assay, enzyme immunoassay,chemiluminescent assay, immunohistochemical assay and the like. Standardtechniques known in the art for ELISA are described in Methods inImmunodiagnosis, 2nd Edition, Rose and Bigazzi, eds., John Wiley andSons, 1980 and Campbell et al., Methods of Immunology, W. A. Benjamin,Inc., 1964, both of which are incorporated herein by reference. Suchassays may be a direct, indirect, competitive, or noncompetitiveimmunoassay as described in the art. (Oellerich, M. 1984, J. Clin. Chem.BioChem. 22: 895-904) Biological samples appropriate for such detectionassays include, but are not limited to, tissue biopsy extracts,cerebrospinal fluid, pleural fluid, urine and the like.

In one embodiment, test sample is reacted with a solid phase reagenthaving surface-bound anti-Agouti antibodies. The solid surface reagentcan be prepared by known techniques for attaching protein to solidsupport material. These attachment methods include non-specificadsorption of the antibody to the support or covalent attachment of theantibody to a reactive group on the support. After reaction of the testsample with anti-Agouti antibody, unbound sample components are removedby washing and the antigen-antibody complex is reacted with a labelledsecondary antibody. The label may be an enzyme which is detected byincubating the solid support in the presence of a suitable fluorimetricor calorimetric reagent. Other detectable labels may also be used, suchas radiolabels or colloidal gold, and the like.

The Agouti antibody and functional equivalents may be prepared in theform of a kit, alone, or in combinations with other reagents such assecondary antibodies, for use in immunoassays.

The above described antibodies and antigen binding fragments thereof maybe supplied as a pharmaceutical composition for in vivo use. Theantibodies may be used for therapeutic uses, diagnostic use inimmunoassays or as an immunoaffinity agent to purify Agouti proteins orsubstantially homologous proteins or fragments thereof as describedherein.

EXAMPLE 1 Animals

All mice were maintained at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, includingthe SB B+T stock, derived from a mutation that arose spontaneously atthe Oak Ridge National Laboratory in an SEC/E×C57BL/E mating.

EXAMPLE 2 DNA Isolation and Southern Blot Analysis

Genomic DNA (ug) was digested with restriction enzymes, electrophoresedthrough agarose gels, and blotted to GeneScreen (DuPont) utilizingstandard procedures (Ausubel et al., 1988; Sambrook et al., 1989).Radiolabeled hybridization probes were prepared with the random hexamerlabeling technique (Feinberg and Vogelstein, 1984 Anal. Biochem.137:226-267). Prior to hybridization, probe 1.5 was reassociated withsheared, genomic mouse DNA to prevent the hybridization of repetitivesequence (Sealey et al. 1985 Nucl. Acids Res. 13:1905-1922).Posthybridization filter washing was conducted under high stringency(0.2×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 68° C.) or reduced stringency (0.2×SSC, 0.1% SDSat 50° C.) conditions for membranes containing DNA from mice or othermammalian species, respectively.

EXAMPLE 3 RNA Preparation and Northern Blot Analysis

Total RNA was prepared using the guanidine isothiocyanate procedure(Ausubel et al. 1988 Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, New York,N.Y., John Willey & Sons), enriched for poly (A)⁺ RNA using an oligo(dT)-cellulose column (Aviv and Leder, 1972 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.U.S.A. 69:1408-1412), electrophoresed through formaldehyde gels, andblotted to GeneScreen (DuPont) utilizing standard procedures known inthe art. The membrane was hybridized and washed under high stringencyconditions as described above for Southern blot analysis.

EXAMPLE 4 Isolation of cDNA

Poly (A)⁺ RNA was prepared from day 5 neonatal skin (C3H strain) oradult Ay 1s1Gso kidney or testis as described above, and doublestrandedcDNA was subsequently prepared with reverse transcriptase using standardprocedures (Ausubel et al. 1988, ibid; Sambrook et al. 1989 MolecularCloning: A Laboratory Manual, Second Edition, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.;Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. After the addition of EcoRIlinkers, the cDNA was ligated into the λgt10 vector (Stratagene),packaged in vitro, and screened with probe B (FIG. 1A) (for the neonatalskin cDNA library) or the wild-type cDNA clone (for the A^(y) /1s1GsocDNA libraries) using standard procedures (Ausubel et al. 1988, ibid;Sambrook et al. 1989, ibid). Positive clones were purified usingconventional methods and subcloned into pGEM (Promega) or pBluescript(stratagene) for further analysis.

EXAMPLE 5 Isolation of Genomic Clones

Genomic spleen DNA from the strain 129/RI was partially digested withSau3A and size fractionated on a 10%-40% sucrose gradient (Sambrook etal., 1989, ibid). Fractions containing 35-45 kb fragments were ligatedinto the cosmid vector c2RB (Bates and Swift, 1983 Gene 26:137-146),packaged in vitro, and screened using standard procedures (Ausubel etal. 1988, ibid; Sambrook et al. 1989, ibid). Utilizing the cDNA clone asa probe, cosmid subfragments were isolated and subcloned into pGEM(Promega) or pBluescript (Stratagene) by standard procedures.

EXAMPLE 6 DNA Sequencing

Genomic and cDNA clones were sequenced by the Sanger dideoxynucleotidemethod (Sanger et al., 1977 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 74:5463-5467)using T7 DNA polymerase (US Biochemical) (Tabor and Richardson, 1987Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 84:4767-4771). Analysis of the DNAsequence was performed using the University of Wisconsin GeneticsComputing Group sequence analysis programs (Devereux et al. 1984 (Nucl.Acids Res. 12:387-395).

EXAMPLE 7 Isolation of a cDNA Clone and Genomic Structure of the a Locus

Having established from previous work that the distal inversionbreakpoint of Is1Gso likely lies within the agouti locus (Bultman et al.1991, ibid), we initiated a search to find an locus exon. Interspecifichybridizations identified a region of DNA near the distal inversionbreakpoint of Is1Gso (FIG. 1A) that is conserved in a number ofmammalian species (FIG. 1B). This evolutionarily conserved region wassubsequently shown to be expressed based on its ability to hybridize toa 0.8 kb transcript in RNA prepared from neonatal skin of wild-typeanimals (FIG. 1C). Neonatal skin cDNA libraries were subsequentlyprepared and screened with probe B (FIG. 1A), resulting in theidentification of several clones, one of which contained the entirecoding region and is nearly full length. The total size of this cDNAclone is 800 bp, which is comparable with the size of the RNA seen onNorthern blots. The complete nucleotide sequence is 692 bp, excludingthe poly(A) tract (FIG. 2). The cDNA contains an open reading frameextending from nucleotide 83 through 478, beginning with an ATG codonflanked by sequence that is in agreement with consensus sequence fortranslation initiation (Kozak, M. 1987 Nucl. Acids Res. 15:8125-8148).The hexanucleotide AATAAT is present within the 3' untranslated sequenceimmediately preceding the poly(a) tract and probably represents thepolyadenylation signal of the gene (Sheets, M. D. et al. 1990 Nucl.Acids Res. 18:5799-5805; Durkop, H. et al. 1992 Cell 68:421-427).

The translation product deduced from the open reading frame is 131 aminoacids in length with a molecular size estimated to be 15,000 daltons(FIG. 2). Searches of the NBRF and SWISSPROT data bases using thealgorithm FASTA (Pearson and Lipman, 1988 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.85:2444-2448) failed to identify any proteins with significant sequencehomology. The N-terminus may comprise a signal peptide, since it ishydrophobic (Kyte and Doolite, 1982 J. Mol. Biol. 157:105-132) andincludes a possible cleavage site after residue 22 (von Heijne, G. 1986Nucl. Acids Res. 14:4683-4690). A highly basic domain containing 16lysine or arginine residues in a stretch of 29 amino acids is present inthe center of the predicted protein and is followed by a polyprolinestretch. At the carboxyl terminus, 10 of the final 40 amino acids arecysteines, and in four instances, cysteine residues are spaced 6 aminoacids apart. In addition, one putative N-linked glycosylation site andnine potential serine/threonine kinase phosphorylation sites are presentwithin the predicted protein, five of which lie within the highly basicdomain.

To educate the intron-exon composition of the gene corresponding to thecDNA clone presented in FIG. 2, overlapping genomic clones were isolatedand characterized utilizing the cDNA clone as a probe. Comparison of thestructure of the genomic and cDNA clones revealed that the gene containsfour exons (FIG. 3A). The first exon of the cDNA is 72 bp in length andis composed entirely of 5' untranslated sequence. The first intron isapproximately 11.5 kb in length and is followed by the second (170 bp),third (65 bp), and fourth (385 bp) exons, which are separated by intronsof 2.5 kb and 2.8 kb, respectively (FIG. 3A). The gene spans an overalldistance of 18 kb.

EXAMPLE 8 Wild-Type Pattern of Expression

Utilizing the cDNA clone as a probe, poly(a)⁺ RNA from the skin ofnewborn wild-type mice was examined at daily intervals and was shown toexpress the 0.8 kb transcript throughout early postnatal development;the level of expression appeared to be greatest, however, during days2-7 (FIG. 4). To determine whether the 0.8 kb transcript is expressedexclusively by melanocytes within the hair follicle, W/W^(v) mice wereexamined because they lack hair bulb melanocytes owing to a defect inthe c-kit gene (Geissler, et al. 1988 Cell 55:185-192). The 0.8 kbtranscript was shown to be present in neonatal skin from W/W^(v) mice(FIG. 4), indicating that it is expressed by the follicular environment.

Poly(A)⁺ RNA was also analyzed from a variety of wild-type adult issues(FIG. 5). Based on Northern blot analysis and RNAase protection assays,it was determined that none of the testis-specific transcripts wereexpressed in neonatal skin (data not shown). Therefore, it is unlikelythat the testis-specific transcripts are playing any role in a locusfunction.

EXAMPLE 9 Changes in Gene Structure and Expression in Several AgoutiLocus Mutations

In an attempt to provide evidence that the gene we have characterized isin fact the agouti gene, we tested whether it is structurally altered inagent-induced or spontaneous a locus mutations. First of all, utilizingtwo probes from with the 5.5 kb wild-type EcoRI fragment at the 3' endof the gene, mutant locus-specific restriction fragment length variants(RFLVs) of 7.5 kb and 3.5 kb were detected for the agent-induced extremenonagouti mutations Is1-Gso and a^(5MNU) (see FIG. 3B), respectively.Additional experiments revealed that the 7.5 kb RFLV arises from a DNAstructural alteration at the distal inversion breakpoint of Is1Gso,which causes the 5' half of the gene to be juxtaposed with a portion ofthe ld gene (Maas, R. L., et al. 1990 Nature 346:853-855; Woychik, R. P.et al. 1990b Nature 346:850-853) in the opposite transcriptionalorientation (see FIGS. 3A and 3B). For a^(5MNU), the 3.5 kb RFLV is dueto an intragenic deletion encompassing 2.8 kb of genomic DNA, whichincludes the third exon (see FIGS. 3A and 3B). The distal inversionbreakpoint of Is1Gso and the deletion breakpoint of a^(5MNU) have alsobeen characterized by nucleotide sequence analysis (see FIG. 3C).

In additional experiments, we also analyzed the molecular structure ofthe original nonagouti mutation (a) and a black-and-tan (a^(t)) allelecalled SB B+T that arose spontaneously in a cross of the SEC/E andC57BL/E inbred lines at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. For theseexperiments, probes containing either the first exon (probe 1.5) or aportion of the first intron (probe 0.6) each detected a distinct mutantlocus-specific RFLV associated with the a and a^(t) mutations (FIGS. 6Aand 6B). Based on this analysis, it appears that each of these mutantalleles contains a structural alteration caused by the presence of extraDNA (at least 11 kb or 5 kb for the a or a^(t) mutations, respectively)within a region corresponding to a 700 bp BglII-EcoRI fragment withinthe first intron of the wild-type gene (FIG. 6B).

As expected, the DNA structural alterations in Is1Gso, a^(5MNU), a, anda^(t) cause detectable changes in the expression of the gene. Productionof the 0.8 kb transcript is absent in neonatal skin from Is1Gsohomozygotes and is replaced by a low abundance 8.0 kb transcript thatlikely arises from cryptic elements on the rearranged gene segments(FIG. 7, lane 1). In neonatal skin from a^(5MNU) homozygotes, atranscript is present at wild-type levels, but is decreased in size toan extent that is consistent with a deletion of the third exon of thegene (FIG. 7, compare lanes 2 and 3). Deletion of the third exon resultsin the removal of 21 codons and the introduction of a frame shift withinthe last exxon (see FIG. 3A). The original nonagouti mutation in C57BLmice does not express the 0.8 kb transcript (FIG. 7, lane 8 and 9). Inblack-and-tan neonates, the 0.8 kb transcript is absent in skin derivedfrom the black, dorsal surface, but is overexpressed in skin derivedfrom the yellow, ventral surface (FIG. 7, lanes 4 and 5). Controlsamples from wild-type (A/A) mice showed similar levels of expression ofthe 0.8 kb transcript in the dorsal and ventral surfaces (FIG. 7, lanes10 and 11). Notably, A^(y) is associated with a marked increase inexpression of a larger than normal transcript (FIG. 7, lanes 6 and 7).

EXAMPLE 10 Deregulated Expression in Lethal Yellow Heterozygotes

Lethal yellow (A^(y)) heterozygotes display a number of pleiotropiceffects, including pronounced obesity, a diabetes like condition, and apropensity to develop a variety of spontaneous and induced neoplasms inthe adult. To examine the molecular defect associated with A^(y) allelemore precisely, a number of adult tissues from lethal yellowheterozygotes were analyzed for expression of the gene we havecharacterized. In striking contrast with wild-type mice, whereexpression is restricted to testis and neonatal skin, A^(y) animalsoverexpressed a size-altered transcript in every tissue examined (FIG.8).

To characterize the nature of the increased size of the A^(y)transcript, an adult kidney and testis cDNA library was prepared fromlethal yellow heterozygotes and screened using the wild-type cDNA cloneas a probe. Analysis of several A^(y) cDNA clones indicated that thefirst exon of the agouti gene has been replaced by novel sequence on theA^(y) transcript, whereas the second, third, and fourth agouti exons,which contain the entire coding region, remain intact (FIG. 9A).Moreover, characterization of the genomic region flanking the novelsequence revealed a potential intron-exon consensus sequence preciselyat the point of divergence with cDNA clone (FIG. 9B). This resultstrongly suggests that the altered size A^(y) transcript arises througha mechanism that involves splicing of the region of novel sequence tothe second exon of the gene.

EXAMPLE 11 Promoter/Enhancers for Tissue-Specific Gene Expression inMuscle

Several promoter/enhancers that drive tissue-specific gene expression inmuscle, adipose tissue, and liver have been identified. The followingpromoter/enhancers, have been extensively characterized, shown to driveoptimal levels of tissue specification transcription in transgenic mice,and are available as published plasmid expression cassettes. Anexpression cassette contains the regulatory elements necessary forexpression of an inserted gene. These include a promotor andpolyadenylation site and if necessary an enhancer element. For musclespecific expression, the rat myosin light chain is used. (MLC1/3) genepromoter/enhancer from clone pMLC1CAT920, which has been used previouslyto drive high level expression of a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase(CAT) transgene exclusively in skeletal muscle of transgenic mice(Rosenthal et al., 1989 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 86:7780-7784). Inthis pUC9-based clone, 1.5-kbHindIII fragment containing the MLC1promoter, cap site, and 105 bp of 5' untranslated sequence is fused to a1.6-kbHindIII-BamHI fragment containing the CAT gene with the smallintron and polyadenylation site of the SV40 t antigen, which is followed(3' ) by a 920-bp BamHI fragment containing a strong, muscle specificenhancer element that is normally located >24 kb downstream of the MLC 1transcription start site. The CAT gene is excised exercised from thisclone by HindIII-BamHI digestion and the full length cDNA as depicted inFIG. 2 (cDNA16), substantially homologous sequences, analogs orfunctionally equivalent sequences is inserted into this site. This MLC1promoter-agouti-MLC1 enhancer clone is linearized and microinjected intothe pronuclei of fertilized eggs, and transgenic lines are produced.

EXAMPLE 12 Promotor/Enhancers for Tissue-Specific Gene Expression inAdipose Tissue

To express the gene of the present invention exclusively in adiposetissue, the murine adipocyte P2 (aP2) gene promoter/enhancer containedin clone 5.4aP2CAT is used, which has been shown to direct very highlevel CAT expression specifically to adipose tissue in transgenic mice(Ross et al. 1990 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 87:9590-9594). Thisclone consists of an upstream fragment (-5.4 kb to +21 bp relative tothe transcription start site) of the aP2 gene, that contains thepromoter and a strong adipocyte-specific enhancer (located in the -5.4kb to -4.9 kb DNA segment), linked to the CAT gene with the small intronand polyadenylation site of the SV 40 t minigene. The CAT gene isreplaced by the agouti minigene paP2Pe-agouti-SVpA to generate theexpression construct. Specifically, a 1.1 kb HindIII-ClaI fragmentcontaining the agouti cDNA and SV40 polyA signal from the pBAP-a-SVpAplasmid is cloned into the NotI site of the p-5.4aP2 plasmid using NotIlinkers (clone paP2PE-a-SVpA). A 6.6 kb KpnI-SacII fragment containingthe aP2 promoter-agouti expression cassette isolated from the vectorsequences in paP2 Pe-agouti-SVpA and is used for microinjection. In thiscase, an ˜1 kb agouti transcript is produced from this expressioncassette, which is several hundred nucleotides larger than theendogenous agouti transcript.

EXAMPLE 13 Promoter/Enhancers for Tissue-Specific Gene Expression inLiver

To achieve liver-specific expression of the agouti gene, the mousealbumin gene promoter/enhancer from the clone Nb.3alb-HGH is used, whichhas been used successfully to achieve liver-specific expression of thehuman growth hormone (hGH) gene in transgenic mice at levels near thatof endogenous albumin gene expression (Pinkert et al., 1987 Genes Dev.1:268-276). This clone contains an upstream (-10.4 to -8.5 kb) albuminenhancer-containing fragment, linked to the liver-specific albuminpromoter, which is fused to the hGH structural gene. The hGH gene isreplaced with the agouti minigene and transgenic mice are generated asdescribed above. Specifically, a 1.1 kb SalI fragment containing theagouti cDNA and SV40 polyadenylation signal is cloned into the SalI siteof the NB-0.3a1b plasmid just 3' to the albumin enhancer/promoter. AfterCsCl purification of the plasmid, a 3.5 kb SacI-KpnI fragment containingthe expression cassette is isolated away from the vector sequences andused for microinjection. Expression of the agouti cDNA from thiscassette produces a ˜1 kb transcript, which is several hundrednucleotides longer than the endogenous agouti transcript.

Transgenic mice that express agouti either in liver, muscle, or fat,establishes whether expression in the liver/muscle is sufficient for theinsulin resistance without obesity, and whether expression exclusivelyin adipose tissue is sufficient to cause obesity without the diabetes.In the event that expression in both the liver/muscle and adipose tissueare both necessary for either the insulin resistance and/or obesity, thedifferent individual transgenic lines are intercrossed to generate miceexpressing agouti in difference combinations of two tissues (i.e., liverand muscle, muscle and fat, and liver and fat). These mice in turn, aremated to mice expressing agouti solely in the third remaining tissue togenerate transgenic mice that express agouti in all three tissues. Thisestablishes the contribution of each tissue necessary for the obesityand insulin resistance traits. Additionally, the transgenic lines thatexpress the agouti gene in the liver should yield information regardingthe role of the agouti gene product in the development of liver tumors.

EXAMPLE 14 Promoter/Enhancers for Tissue-Specific Gene Expression thePancreas

For expression in the pancreas the islet cell specific promoter from therat insulin gene is utilized. Obesity/diabetes effects associated withthe ectopic expression of the agouti gene in the beta-cells of thepancreas are analyzed. The resulting transgenic animals are used tostudy the expression of agouti in the pancreas to determine if thiscauses an increased secretion of amylin, and that the resultinghyperamylinemia, which in turn, causes the insulin resistance.

EXAMPLE 15 Production of Transgenic Mice Containing the Agouti cDNA

The clones as described in Examples 11-14 are linearized andmicroinjected into the pronuclei of fertilized eggs as described inKrimpenfort et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,384; Leder et al. U.S. Pat. No.5,175,383; Wagner et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,385; Evans et al. U.S. Pat.No. 4,870,009; Berns U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,986; incorporated herein byreference.

Briefly, the DNA fragment used for injection are released from thevector with the appropriate restriction endonucleases and purified byagarose gel electrophoresis and glass-powder purification. The final DNAconcentration is adjusted to an appropriate concentration. Fertilizedmouse eggs are recover from females. The DNA fragments in a solution at3-5 μg/ml are injected into the pronucleus of each fertilized eggessentially as described. Hogan, B. L. M. et al., (Cold Spring HarborLaboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, 1986 Manipulation of the Mouse Embryo: ALaboratory Animal). The eggs are transplanted into pseudopregnant femalemice for gestation to term. At 3 to 4 week of age, tissue from the tailof the mice is removed. The DNA is analyzed for the presence of theintegrated promoter-agouti cDNA-enhancer sequences within the mousechromosomal DNA, as shown by hybridization to radioactively labeledagouti cDNA probe DNA. Both "Southern blot" and "Northern Blot"hybridizations are performed (Sambrook 1989, ibid). For thehybridization, the chromosomal DNA is digested into fragments usingrestriction endonuclease which cut the agouti cDNA into known lengths toindicate the authenticity of the added gene. Northern blotting analysiswith reveal the size of the mRNA expressed from the transgene. Twotransgenic agouti mice are mated and offspring produced to establish atransgenic line.

EXAMPLE 16 Cloning and Characterization the Gene Homologous to Agouti inHumans

Several genes that map close to the agouti locus on mouse chromosome 2also map to the same relative positions on human chromosome 20. Based onthe syntenic relationship between the distal section of mouse chromosome2 and human chromosome 20, it can be predicted that any human homologueof the agouti gene would also map to human chromosome 20. This is quitesignificant since a gene associated with mature onset diabetes has alsobeen mapped to human chromosome 20.

Utilizing the full-length mouse agouti cDNA as a probe, the human genomewas searched for cross-hybridizing fragments, and a unique-copycross-hybridizing fragment on human genome blots was identified. Thisresult strongly suggests that there is a unique-copy gene in humans thatis homologous to the mouse agouti gene. The cross-hybridizing humanfragment is cloned and characterized the structure of the correspondinggene and to map it on the human genome. For this purpose a human genomiclibrary is screened with the mouse cDNA clone. The positive clones arepurified, and the specific restriction fragments which cross-hybridizewith the mouse cDNA subcloned and sequenced. The gene is mapped usingFISH (Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization) map the gene on metaphasehuman chromosomes utilizing the human genomic clone as a probe using themethod as described by Lawrence, J. B., or by both genomic mappingprocedures.

EXAMPLE 17 Diagnosis of a Locus Associated Defect

The Agouti gene or analogous genes and mutations in human or otheranimals may be detected by Southern or Northern blot analyses usingradiolabled nucleotide probes. Also, this type of analysis can beaccomplished with PCR or RT-PCR technique which have been describedabove. The probes are based on the cDNA sequence of the agouti gene asdepicted in FIG. 2 or from substantially homologous sequences orportions thereof.

DNA or RNA samples from test animals are prepared for analysis bytechniques known in the art, and a Southern or Northern blot analysis isconducted using the nucleotide probes. The banding pattern of the testsample is compared to a known standard sample pattern.

Differences in the test pattern are indicative of mutations in the geneand are predictive of the development of diabetes, obesity, neoplasmsand amylinemia in the test animal.

EXAMPLE 18 Isolation and Characterization of Peptides of the Agouti GeneProduct

The agouti gene has the potential to encode a 131 amino acid protein.The agouti protein is secreted since it contains a hydrophobic leaderregion terming in a consensus signal peptide cleavage site. The 131amino acid protein (minus its signal peptide) may be the active form ofprotein or it may require further processing to form a biologicallyactive molecule. Various full length and truncated forms of the proteinwill be made recombinantly to determine the portions necessary foractivity. Comparison of eukaryotic and prokaryoticly expressed proteinswill indicate if glycosylation is required for activity. Natural orrecombinant protein may be purified by methods known in the art such asaffinity chromatography, immunoaffinity chromatography, HPLC and thelike.

EXAMPLE 19 Production and Use of Antibodies Specific for the Agouti GeneProducts

Recombinant agouti protein is used for the production of antibodiesagainst the agouti protein. The antibody are useful for establishing thelocation of the agouti gene product within tissues of the animal.Specifically, polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies are preparedutilizing standard procedures, and the titer of the polyclonalantibodies will be determined by standard ELISA. For the RI-agoutitransgenics, serum levels of the agouti protein will be established witha standard ELISA analysis. Monoclonal antibodies are produced aspreviously described above.

Immunohistochemistry is performed on formalin fixed, paraffin embeddedtissues using supersensitive biotinylated anti-rabbit antibodiesfollowed by HRP-labeled strepavidin. (Prior to use in histochemistry,the serum will be absorbed with mouse liver powder.) (DAB)(DAB=Diaminobenzidine) is be used as a chromogen color reagent andslides is counterstained with Mayers hematoxylin. Specificity of thestaining is controlled by including tissues stained with preimmunerabbit serum treated as above. In addition, anti-agouti serum is passedover an affinity column made of agouti protein coupled to appropriategel matrix (Reacti-gel, Sepharose, etc.) as well as gels coupled withunrelated proteins. The gel coupled to agouti protein removes allhistochemical activity for agouti from the flow through, and the elutedantibody restores the same specific activity.

EXAMPLE 20 Identification of the Receptor/Ligand For the Agouti GeneProduct

Since the a locus, like steel, does not act in a cell-autonomous manner,the agouti gene product, like the steel factor, many function as aligand for receptor on the melanocyte. Interestingly, the extensionlocus (e) in a chromosome 8 of the mouse acts in a cell-autonomousmanner and produces pigmentation phenotypes similar to a. However,dominant e locus mutations cause an all-black phenotype similar to thatobserved in recessive a locus mutations, and recessive e locus mutationscause an all-yellow phenotype similar to that observed in dominant alocus mutations. Making the assumption that dominant mutations at thesetwo loci are associated with gain of function and recessive mutationsare associated with loss of function, a straightforward model (like thatfor the steel and dominant-white spotting loci) in which the e locusencodes a melanocyte-specific receptor that is directly activated by aligand produced by the agouti locus is unlikely.

Alternatively, Takeuchi et al. described a model for a potentialinteraction between the a and e loci based on their experiments withskin explants from A^(y) /a or e/e mice. They proposed thatα-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) binds to its receptor on thesurface of the melanocyte, triggering a cascade of biochemical eventsculminating in the elevation of cyclic. AMP levels, which act as asecond messenger to produce eumelanin. The e locus hypotheticallyencodes a protein that modulates the production of cyclic AMP viainteraction with adenylate cyclase in the membrane of melanocytes. Inthis model, the agouti protein may function as a ligand to compete withα-MSH for binding of its receptor, preventing an increase of cyclic AMPin the melanocyte and resulting in the production of phaeomelanin. Asdiscussed above, our finding that the product of the agouti locus may bea small secreted protein is compatible with this model. The agouti geneproduct shares no sequence homology with α-MSH, and if this model iscorrect, it is unclear whether the agouti gene product binds directly toα-MSH and inactivate its binding capacity or whether it binds directlyto the α-MSH receptor and competitively interfere with the binding ofα-MSH.

Using the isolated or recombinant Agouti gene product or fragments andanalogs thereof, methods will be devised to determine the receptor forthe Agouti gene product and role of receptor in the development ofdiabetes, obesity, amylinemia and tumors.

EXAMPLE 21 Screening of Drugs For Treatment of Diabetes, Obesity,Amylinemia or Tumors

Transgenic animals are prepared as described in Examples 11-15.

To study the effects of potentially therapeutic drugs, 24 transgenicmice are divided into 4 groups. Three groups were fed repelletizedPurina 5008 chow and one group of mice are fed the same chow containingthe test drug for two weeks. All mice are fed Purina 5008 chow withoutdrug during the third week. Body weight and food consumption aremonitored and blood samples are collected before the experiment isinitiated (day 0) and after 7 (day 7) and 14 days (day 14) of treatment.Blood samples are collected from tail veins between 0800 and 1000. The24 mice are bled in the same order each time. Blood samples are analyzeddirectly for serum amylin.

To test insulin sensitivity after drug treatment, mice are fastedovernight (17 h) from day 14 to day 15. Blood glucose is measured in themorning of day 15 immediately before injections at 0 time. At that time,each mouse receives one i.p injection of 1 g/kg glucose and one i.p.injection of porcine insulin or saline. The two injections are givenconsecutively on different sides of the abdomen. The 3 control groupsare given saline, 0.25 units insulin/kg or 0.5 units insulin/kg,respectively. The drug-treated mice are given 0.25 units insulin/kg.Blood glucose concentrations are then measured at 30, 60 and 120 minafter the injections.

Radioimmunoassays kits for insulin are purchased from DiagnosticProducts Corporation (San Diego, Calif.). Rat insulin is used as astandard and porcine insulin for injections are obtained at Eli Lilly &Co. (Indianapolis, Ind.). Radioimmunoassay kits for rat amylin arepurchased from Peninsula (Belmont, Calif.). The lowest level ofdetection in the amylin assay is less than 3 pg/assay tube usingunextracted plasma (Gill and Yen, 1991 Life Sciences 48:703-710). Bloodglucose is measured by the glucose oxidase method with a model 300Alpkem Rapid Flow Analyzer (Clackamaus, Oreg.). Incubating 100 μg drugper ml of blood or plasma are tested to make sure that the drug does notinterfere with the assays for blood glucose, plasma insulin, and amylin.

Animals are also monitored for the development of tumors in tissues andsize of tumors.

Data are reported as mean ± s.e.m. and analyzed by Student's test or bythe two sample t test at each point. Percent changes of day 0 werecalculated individually and reported as mean± of N=6 or 18 mice. Theinsulin/amylin ratios are calculated on molar basis.

The above protocol may be varied depending on the drug to be tested.Drug may be given by various routes, for example, intravenously,intraperitonealy, intramuscularly and the like, by bolus injection orcontinuous infusion, where appropriate. The drug may be given once,twice or the like during the testing interval or may be given daily, ascan be determined by those skilled in the art.

    __________________________________________________________________________    SEQUENCE LISTING                                                              (1) GENERAL INFORMATION:                                                      (iii) NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 10                                                 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 1:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 692 nucleotides                                                   (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA                                                      (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO                                                        (iv) ANTI-SENSE: NO                                                           (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                         (A) ORGANISM: Mouse                                                           (B) STRAIN: C3H Strain                                                        (D) DEVELOPMENTAL STAGE: Neonatal or Adult                                    (F) TISSUE TYPE: Neonatal skin or adult Ay Is1Gso kidney or                   testis.                                                                       (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (A) LIBRARY: Neonatal skin cDNA                                               (viii) POSITION IN GENOME:                                                    (A) CHROMOSOME/SEGMENT: Agouti locus of mouse chromosome 2.                   (ix) FEATURE:                                                                 (A) NAME/KEY: Agouti locus                                                    (C) IDENTIFICATION METHOD: Experimental                                       (D) OTHER INFORMATION: In addition to hair color in mice, the                 Agouti gene is responsible for embryonic lethality,                           obesity, diabetes, and the development of tumor in a wide                     variety of tissues.                                                           (x) PUBLICATION INFORMATION:                                                  (A) AUTHORS: Scott J. Boltman, Edward J. Michaud, and Richard                 P. Woychik                                                                    (B) TITLE: Molecular Characterization of the Mouse Agouti                     Locus                                                                         (C) JOURNAL: Submitted to CELL                                                (K) RELEVANT RESIDUES IN SEQ ID NO: 1: FROM 1 TO 692                          (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 1:                                      TTCAAGGACAGGAAAGACATTCTGGCCTGGCTTCCCTTAGGGGAGCTGATGCGGAATAGA60                GTCACTTGTGCTGCTTCTCAGGATGGATGTCACCCGCCTACTCCTGGCCACC112                       MetAspValThrArgLeuLeuLeuAlaThr                                                1510                                                                          CTAGTGAGCTTCCTGTGCTTCTTCACCGTCCACAGCCACCTGGCACTC160                           LeuValSerPheLeuCysPhePheThrValHisSerHisLeuAlaLeu                              152025                                                                        GAGGAGACGCTTGGAGATGACAGGAGTCTGCGGAGTAACTCCTCCATG208                           GluGluThrLeuGlyAspAspArgSerLeuArgSerAsnSerSerMet                              303540                                                                        AACTCGCTGGATTTCTCCTCTGTTTCTATCGTGGCACTGAACAAGAAA256                           AsnSerLeuAspPheSerSerValSerIleValAlaLeuAsnLysLys                              455055                                                                        TCCAAGAAGATCAGCAGAAAAGAAGCCGAGAAGCGGAAGAGGTCTTCC304                           SerLysLysIleSerArgLysGluAlaGluLysArgLysArgSerSer                              606570                                                                        AAGAAAAAGGCTTCGATGAAGAAGGTGGCAAGGCCCCCGCCACCTTCG352                           LysLysLysAlaSerMetLysLysValAlaArgProProProProSer                              75808590                                                                      CCCTGCGTGGCCACCCGCGACAGCTGCAAGCCACCCGCACCCGCCTGC400                           ProCysValAlaThrArgAspSerCysLysProProAlaProAlaCys                              95100105                                                                      TGCGACCCGTGCGCCTCCTGCCAGTGCCGTTTCTTCGGCAGCGCCTGC448                           CysAspProCysAlaSerCysGlnCysArgPhePheGlySerAlaCys                              110115120                                                                     ACCTGTCGAGTACTCAACCCCAACTGCTGACGCAGCTTCTTCGCTGC495                            ThrCysArgValLeuAsnProAsnCys                                                   125130                                                                        GCGCGCAGCTTCGGGAACGGGTGATTGGGCGGGGCTTCAGGGTCCCGCGCTTCTAGGCTG555               AGGGGCGGGTCTCTGTGGGTGGGGCTTGTGGGTGGGCGTGGTCAGTGGTTGTGACTTGTG615               GGCGCTTTCAAAAAACCGGTTTTCTAGGAAACCTAGTGGAAGCTAAAATCAGAATACAAT675               AATATTTTTAGGCTGCM692                                                          (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 2:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 51 nucleotides                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: genomic DNA                                               (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO                                                        (iv) ANTI-SENSE: NO                                                           (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                         (A) ORGANISM: Mouse                                                           (B) STRAIN: Wild                                                              (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (A) LIBRARY: genomic                                                          (viii) POSITION IN GENOME:                                                    (A) CHROMOSOME/SEGMENT: Agouti locus of mouse chromosome 2                    comparable to SEQ ID NO: 3.                                                   (ix) FEATURE:                                                                 (A) NAME/KEY: Agouti locus                                                    (C) IDENTIFICATION METHOD: Experimental                                       (D) OTHER INFORMATION: In addition to hair color in mice, the                 Agouti gene is responsible for embryonic lethality,                           obesity, diabetes, and the development of tumor in a wide                     variety of tissues.                                                           (x) PUBLICATION INFORMATION:                                                  (A) AUTHORS: Scott J. Boltman, Edward J. Michaud, and Richard                 P. Woychik                                                                    (B) TITLE: Molecular Characterization of the Mouse Agouti                     Locus                                                                         (C) JOURNAL: Submitted to CELL                                                (K) RELEVANT RESIDUES IN SEQ ID NO: 2: FROM 1 TO 51                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 2:                                      CATTGAGGACAACGTCCCTAGGCTGTGGGAGTGTGTCTGTATGTAGCGTTT51                         (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 3:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 51 nucleotides                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: genomic DNA                                               (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO                                                        (iv) ANTI-SENSE: NO                                                           (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                         (A) ORGANISM: Mouse                                                           (B) STRAIN: Homozygous for IS1Gso mutation                                    (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (A) LIBRARY: genomic                                                          (viii) POSITION IN GENOME:                                                    (A) CHROMOSOME/SEGMENT: Distal inversion breakpoint of Is1Gso                 mutation in Agouti locus of mouse chromosome 2.                               (ix) FEATURE:                                                                 (A) NAME/KEY: Agouti locus                                                    (C) IDENTIFICATION METHOD: Experimental                                       (D) OTHER INFORMATION: In addition to hair color in mice, the                 Agouti gene is responsible for embryonic lethality,                           obesity, diabetes, and the development of tumor in a wide                     variety of tissues.                                                           (x) PUBLICATION INFORMATION:                                                  (A) AUTHORS: Scott J. Boltman, Edward J. Michaud, and Richard                 P. Woychik                                                                    (B) TITLE: Molecular Characterization of the Mouse Agouti                     Locus                                                                         (C) JOURNAL: Submitted to CELL                                                (K) RELEVANT RESIDUES IN SEQ ID NO: 3: FROM 1 TO 51                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 3:                                      CATTGAGGACAACGTCCGCGGAGTAAATCGAACCCGGCTACACTTTTATGT51                         (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 4:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 52 nucleotides                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: genomic DNA                                               (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO                                                        (iv) ANTI-SENSE: NO                                                           (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                         (A) ORGANISM: Mouse                                                           (B) STRAIN: Wild                                                              (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (A) LIBRARY: genomic                                                          (viii) POSITION IN GENOME:                                                    (A) CHROMOSOME/SEGMENT: Agouti locus of mouse chromosome 2                    comparable to SEQ ID NO: 5.                                                   (ix) FEATURE:                                                                 (A) NAME/KEY: Agouti locus                                                    (C) IDENTIFICATION METHOD: Experimental                                       (D) OTHER INFORMATION: In addition to hair color in mice, the                 Agouti gene is responsible for embryonic lethality,                           obesity, diabetes, and the development of tumor in a wide                     variety of tissues.                                                           (x) PUBLICATION INFORMATION:                                                  (A) AUTHORS: Scott J. Boltman, Edward J. Michaud, and Richard                 P. Woychik                                                                    (B) TITLE: Molecular Characterization of the Mouse Agouti                     Locus                                                                         (C) JOURNAL: Submitted to CELL                                                (K) RELEVANT RESIDUES IN SEQ ID NO: 4: FROM 1 TO 52                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 4:                                      AAGTCAAGATGCTTGGTGGACTTGGTTTTCTTTAGCGTTAATGACATTTTAA52                        (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 5:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 43 nucleotides                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: genomic DNA                                               (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO                                                        (iv) ANTI-SENSE: NO                                                           (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                         (A) ORGANISM: Mouse                                                           (B) STRAIN: Homozygous for a5MNU                                              (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (A) LIBRARY: genomic                                                          (viii) POSITION IN GENOME:                                                    (A) CHROMOSOME/SEGMENT: 5'deletion breakpoint of a5MNU                        mutation in Agouti locus of mouse chromosome 2.                               (ix) FEATURE:                                                                 (A) NAME/KEY: Agouti locus                                                    (C) IDENTIFICATION METHOD: Experimental                                       (D) OTHER INFORMATION: In addition to hair color in mice, the                 Agouti gene is responsible for embryonic lethality,                           obesity, diabetes, and the development of tumor in a wide                     variety of tissues.                                                           (x) PUBLICATION INFORMATION:                                                  (A) AUTHORS: Scott J. Boltman, Edward J. Michaud, and Richard                 P. Woychik                                                                    (B) TITLE: Molecular Characterization of the Mouse Agouti                     Locus                                                                         (C) JOURNAL: Submitted to CELL                                                (K) RELEVANT RESIDUES IN SEQ ID NO: 1: FROM 1 TO 43                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 5:                                      AAGTCAAGATGCTTGGTGGACTTGGTTTTCTTTAGCGTTAATG43                                 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 6:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 52 nucleotides                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: genomic DNA                                               (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO                                                        (iv) ANTI-SENSE: NO                                                           (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                         (A) ORGANISM: Mouse                                                           (B) STRAIN: Wild                                                              (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (A) LIBRARY: genomic                                                          (viii) POSITION IN GENOME:                                                    (A) CHROMOSOME/SEGMENT: Agouti locus of mouse chromosome 2                    comparable to SEQ ID NO. 7.                                                   (ix) FEATURE:                                                                 (A) NAME/KEY: Agouti locus                                                    (C) IDENTIFICATION METHOD: Experimental                                       (D) OTHER INFORMATION: In addition to hair color in mice, the                 Agouti gene is responsible for embryonic lethality,                           obesity, diabetes, and the development of tumor in a wide                     variety of tissues.                                                           (x) PUBLICATION INFORMATION:                                                  (A) AUTHORS: Scott J. Boltman, Edward J. Michaud, and Richard                 P. Woychik                                                                    (B) TITLE: Molecular Characterization of the Mouse Agouti                     Locus                                                                         (C) JOURNAL: Submitted to CELL                                                (K) RELEVANT RESIDUES IN SEQ ID NO: 6: FROM 1 TO 52                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 6:                                      AGGAGGCTGAGGCACGTAGATCTGAGTTTGAGGCCAGCCTGGTCTACAGAGT52                        (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 7:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 39 nucleotides                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: genomic DNA                                               (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO                                                        (iv) ANTI-SENSE: NO                                                           (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                         (A) ORGANISM: Mouse                                                           (B) STRAIN: Homozygous for a5MNU                                              (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (A) LIBRARY: genomic                                                          (viii) POSITION IN GENOME:                                                    (A) CHROMOSOME/SEGMENT: 3'deletion breakpoint of a5MNU                        mutation in Agouti locus of mouse chromosome 2.                               (ix) FEATURE:                                                                 (A) NAME/KEY: Agouti locus                                                    (C) IDENTIFICATION METHOD: Experimental                                       (D) OTHER INFORMATION: In addition to hair color in mice, the                 Agouti gene is responsible for embryonic lethality,                           obesity, diabetes, and the development of tumor in a wide                     variety of tissues.                                                           (x) PUBLICATION INFORMATION:                                                  (A) AUTHORS: Scott J. Boltman, Edward J. Michaud, and Richard                 P. Woychik                                                                    (B) TITLE: Molecular Characterization of the Mouse Agouti                     Locus                                                                         (C) JOURNAL: Submitted to CELL                                                (K) RELEVANT RESIDUES IN SEQ ID NO: 7: FROM 1 TO 43                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 7:                                      ACGTAGATCTGAGTTTGAGGCCAGCCTGGTCTACAGAGT39                                     (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 8:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 13 nucleotides                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA                                                      (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO                                                        (iv) ANTI-SENSE: NO                                                           (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                         (A) ORGANISM: Mouse                                                           (B) STRAIN: Wild                                                              (F) TISSUE TYPE: Adult kidney and testis                                      (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: Wild-type cDNA clones                                              (viii) POSITION IN GENOME:                                                    (A) CHROMOSOME/SEGMENT: transition point of exon 1 from exon                  2 in Agouti locus of mouse chromosome 2.                                      (ix) FEATURE:                                                                 (A) NAME/KEY: Agouti locus                                                    (C) IDENTIFICATION METHOD: Experimental                                       (D) OTHER INFORMATION: In addition to hair color in mice, the                 Agouti gene is responsible for embryonic lethality,                           obesity, diabetes, and the development of tumor in a wide                     variety of tissues.                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 8:                                      TTGTGCTGCTTCT13                                                               (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 9:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 13 nucleotides                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA                                                      (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO                                                        (iv) ANTI-SENSE: NO                                                           (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                         (A) ORGANISM: Mouse                                                           (B) STRAIN: Heterozygote for Lethal yellow (Ay)                               (F) TISSUE TYPE: Adult kidney and testis                                      (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (A) LIBRARY: Adult kidney and testis cDNA clones                              (viii) POSITION IN GENOME:                                                    (A) CHROMOSOME/SEGMENT: transition point of exon 1 from exon                  2 in Agouti locus of mouse chromosome 2.                                      (ix) FEATURE:                                                                 (A) NAME/KEY: Agouti locus                                                    (C) IDENTIFICATION METHOD: Experimental                                       (D) OTHER INFORMATION: In addition to hair color in mice, the                 Agouti gene is responsible for embryonic lethality,                           obesity, diabetes, and the development of tumor in a wide                     variety of tissues.                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 9:                                      GGCGCGGGCTTCT13                                                               (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 10:                                            (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 13 nucleotides                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Genomic                                                   (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO                                                        (iv) ANTI-SENSE: NO                                                           (vi) ORIGINAL SOURCE:                                                         (A) ORGANISM: Mouse                                                           (B) STRAIN: Heterozygote for Lethal yellow (Ay)                               (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (A) LIBRARY: Genomic                                                          (viii) POSITION IN GENOME:                                                    (A) CHROMOSOME/SEGMENT: corresponding genomic region of the                   5'end of the Ay cDNA set forth in SEQ ID NO: 9.                               (ix) FEATURE:                                                                 (A) NAME/KEY: Agouti locus                                                    (C) IDENTIFICATION METHOD: Experimental                                       (D) OTHER INFORMATION: In addition to hair color in mice, the                 Agouti gene is responsible for embryonic lethality,                           obesity, diabetes, and the development of tumor in a wide                     variety of tissues.                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 10:                                     GGCGCGGGTGAGT13                                                               __________________________________________________________________________

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for detecting a mammalian Agouti nucleicacid sequence in a biological sample comprising:a) obtaining abiological sample comprising nucleic acid sequences from a mammal; b)providing a pair of oligonucleotide primers wherein said primers aresufficiently complementary to a sequence selected from the groupconsisting of: SEQ ID NO: 1, the full complement of SEQ ID NO: 1, amammalian Agouti coding sequence, and the full complement of a mammalianAgouti coding sequence, to specifically hybridize to said mammalianAgouti nucleic acid sequence and not to non-Agouti sequences and whereineach member of said pair of primers is selected to hybridize to oppositestrands of said mammalian Agouti sequence; c) treating the biologicalsample with said pair of primers such that each primer will specificallyhybridize to said Agouti sequence; d) treating the hybridized primersunder conditions such that complementary primer extension products aresynthesized from the sequences to which each primer is hybridized; e)repeating steps c) and (d) until the sequences are sufficientlyamplified to be detected, and; f) detecting the amplified sequences. 2.The method of claim 1 wherein said mammalian Agouti nucleic acidsequence is an allelic variant of a mammalian Agouti gene.
 3. A methodaccording to claim 1 or 2 further comprising the step of identifying theamplified sequences.
 4. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein theprimers are derivatized with a detectable label.
 5. A method accordingto claim 1 or 2, wherein the primers are complementary to sequencesselected from the group consisting of nucleic acid coding sequences of awild type mammalian Agouti gene and nucleic acid sequences from thecoding sequences of a mutated mammalian Agouti gene.
 6. A test kit fordetecting a mammalian Agouti nucleic acid sequence or an allelic variantof a mammalian Agouti nucleic acid sequence in a biological samplecomprising:a) pairs of oligonucleotide primers complementary to saidAgouti nucleic acid sequence wherein said primers are sufficientlycomplementary to a sequence selected from the group consisting of: SEQID NO: 1, the full complement of SEQ ID NO: 1, a mammalian Agouti codingsequence, and the full complement of a mammalian Agouti coding sequence,to specifically hybridize to said mammalian Agouti nucleic acid sequenceand not to non-Agouti sequences and wherein each member of a pair ofprimers is selected to hybridize to opposite strands of said mammalianAgouti sequence; b) reagents for nucleic acid synthesis.
 7. Anoligonucleotide probe or primer comprising nucleic acid sequencescomplementary to a subsequence of the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ IDNo: 1 or to a coding sequence of a mammalian Agouti gene wherein saidoligonucleotide probe or primer is sufficiently complementary to asubsequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 or to said mammalian Agouti coding sequenceto specifically hybridize to said Agouti nucleic acid sequence or toallelic variants of said mammalian Agouti nucleic acid sequences and notto non-Agouti nucleic acid sequences.
 8. A method according to claim 1,wherein said mammalian Agouti sequence encodes a protein comprising theamino acid sequence according to SEQ ID NO:
 11. 9. The method accordingto claim 1 wherein the biological sample is from skin, muscle, liver,pancreas, spleen, kidney, testis, brain, lung or adipose tissue.
 10. Anoligonucleotide comprising a nucleic acid sequence complementary to asequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and 10 wherein said oligonucleotide specificallyhybridizes to a mammalian Agouti nucleic acid sequence or to allelicvariants of said mammalian Agouti nucleic acid sequences and not tonon-Agouti nucleic acid sequences.
 11. An oligonucleotide sequence whichis complementary to a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptidecomprising the amino acid sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 11 whereinsaid oligonucleotide sequence specifically hybridizes to a mammalianAgouti nucleic acid sequence or allelic variants of a mammalian Agoutinucleic acid sequence and not to non-Agouti nucleic acids.
 12. A methodfor detecting a mammalian Agouti nucleic acid sequence in a biologicalsample comprising:a) obtaining a biological sample containing nucleicacids from a mammal; b) combining said sample with at least oneoligonucleotide probe complementary to said Agouti nucleic acid sequencewherein said at least one probe is sufficiently complementary to a SEQID NO: 1 or to a mammalian Agouti coding sequence, or a subsequencethereof, to specifically hybridize to said Agouti nucleic acid sequenceand not to non-Agouti nucleic acid sequences; c) treating the biologicalsample with said at least one probe under conditions wherein said atleast one probe specifically hybridizes to said Agouti sequence or saidallelic variant to form a hybridized product; d) detecting the product.13. The method of claim 12 wherein said mammalian Agouti nucleic acidsequence is an allelic variant of a mammalian Agouti gene.
 14. Themethod according to claim 12 or 13 wherein the nucleic acid sequencedetected is a DNA or RNA sequence.
 15. The method according to claim 12or 13 wherein the nucleic acid sequence detected encodes a protein orpolypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
 11. 16. Amethod of screening for a mammal at risk of developinginsulin-independent diabetes, obesity, hyperalinemia and tumorsassociated with the ectopic expression of a mammalian Agouti genecomprising detecting the present of a wild type or altered transcriptionproduct of a mammalian Agouti gene in a tissue sample taken from themammal wherein ectopic expression of the transcript in the tissue sampleas compared to expression in a normal control is correlated with a riskof developing insulin-independent diabetes, obesity or hyperalinemia andtumors.
 17. A method according to claim 16, wherein the tissue sample isselected from the group consisting of skin, muscle, liver, pancreas,spleen, kidney, testis, brain, lung and adipose tissue.